Bow for musical instruments



Aug. 16, 1949. A. NATHAN v 2,479,505

BOW FOR AMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Feb. 2, 194e '14 l2 17 1/ l? 9 f 1615 13 Patented Aug. 16, 1949 BOW FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Alfred `Nathan,London, England, assignor to Rose, Morris & Company Limited, London,

England Application February 2, 1948, Serial No. 5,793 In Great BritainMay 10, 1946 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expiresMay 10, 1966 10 Claims.

This invention relates to bows for musical instruments. Such bowsusually comprise a number of strands of hair or equivalent materialwhich are held in tension by being attached between the frog and theAtip of a staff, the frog being longitudinally adjustable relative tothe staff so as to enable the tension in the hair or equivalent to bevaried.

It is the object of the invention -to provide an improved form andconstruction of adjustable frog which is found to be more satisfactorythan those in normal use, especially with respect to the smoothadjustment which it permits; the improved frog can, moreover, be made soas to be very robust and yet light in weight.

According to the invention, in a bow for a musical instrument, the frogcomprises a body which extends more than half way around the outside ofthe staii to retain the latter, the body being slidable longitudinallyupon the staff and having means whereby it is located against angulardisplacement about the axis of the staff.

There is further provided according to the invention in a bow for amusical instrument an adjustable frog comprising a body formed with asocket which extends more than half Way around the outside of the stalto retain the latter but allow relative sliding of the frog upon,v

the stai in the longitudinal direction, means to prevent relativeangular movement of the frog and staff, and an adjustable thrust memberupon the frog arranged to bear against the end Dart of the staff tolocate the frog in the longitudinal direction. Preferably the socket inthe body comprises a passage, the wall of which extends completelyaround the end part of the stai. Preferably also, the body of the frogis screw-threaded at a position beyond the end of the staff, and isthere fitted with a thrust screw, the tip of which presses against theend of the stai. The head of the screw may have a cylindrical base whichenters a corresponding cylindrical counterbore in the body to avoidexposing the thread of the screw throughout the normal range ofladjustment of the frog. Further, the body may be located againstangular displacement relative to the stai, by a member which projectsinwards through the w-all ofthe socket and engages a longitudinal grooveor slot in the end part or the staff. 'Ihis projection can beconstituted by the CJI tip of a screw disposed within a hole in thebody, the end of said hole being so disposed that it is covered by thehair of the bow. The stai may advantageously comprise a metal tubehaving its end closed by a plug which latter is engaged by the tip ofthe thrust screw. With the present invention the end part of the staffcan lconveniently be circular in cross section and t slidably within acylindrical socket formed in the body of the frog.

As a further aspect of the invention there is provided in a bow for amusical instrument, a frog comprising a body of U-shape having acylindrical socket bored down one of its limbs from the extremitythereof, a screw-thread extending axially through the base of thesocket, a thrust screw -tted into said screw-thread and having its tipdisposed within the socket, the staiT with its end part slidablelongitudinally within the socket but restrained against rotation, andattachment means for the usual hair associated with the other limb ofthe body.

The preferred form rof bow according to the invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a musicians bow;

Figure 2 is a part sectional elevation of the frog and adjacent end ofthe stai, drawn to an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional elevation, taken lon the line 3-3 ofFigure 2; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing a modiedconstruction.

The bow in Figure 1 comprises a staff I0 which is made of light gaugesteel tube, gently tapered in diameter and tted at its smaller end witha tip portion II. The staff IU is circular in cross sectional shapethroughout its length and is tted slidably at its larger end within afrog which is indicated generally at I2 in Figure l. This comprises abody I3 which is of substantially U- shape, the uppermost limb I4 beingused for the attachment of the frog to the staff I0, while the lowerlimb I 5 accommodates one end of the usual band IB of hairs extending tothe tip portion II. These hairs are secured at their ends to the tipportion II and frog I2 respectively and are held under tension byslidably adjusting the frog I2 upon the end part of the staff I0 bymeans of a rotatable knob or head II.

The construction of the frog I2 is shown in Figures 2 and 3. The body I3is made of light metal or alloy and it has its uppermost limb I4 boredat I8 to form a cylindrical socket which snugly receives :the endportion I9 ofthe stai I0. The socket |8 completely surrounds the stai I0and thus provides a rm connection which however permits the parts toslide telescopi-cally for eiTecting adjustment of the hair tension. Toprevent relative rotation of the parts the portion I 9 of the staff i isformed with a longitudinal slot 26 which is engaged by the tip portion2| of a grub screw 22 threaded into a hole 23 in the body I3; the hole23 extends upwards from a groove 24 in the lower surface of the body I3so that when the hair I6 is laid in said groove and is protected by theusual cover-strip 25, the screw 22 and its hole are completelyconcealed. The extremity of the stai IIB is closed by a plug 2-6 toprovide a at end surface.

The base portion 2l of the socket I 8 is drilled axially andscrew-threaded at 28 to receive a thrust screw 29 which is integral withor attached rmly to the head Il and has its tip 3|) in engagement withthe plug 26 of the staff ID. 'Ihus the staff Ill can be pressed towardsthe left (to tension the hair I6) by rotating the head so that the screw29 is advanced; rotation in the reverse direction allows the hairtension to slacken. In order to avoid exposing the screw 29 (and thuskeep the threads clean as well as improve the appearance of the bow) thehead Il is formed with a cylindrical base 3| which fits with only slightclearance within a counterbore 32 in the body I 3, at least a part ofthe base 3| being in engagement with the counterbore 32 even when thetension is fully slackened. This also provides a direct bearing for thehead and thus prevents any side thrust from bending the screw 29.

It will be understood that the arrangement which has so far beendescribed has been given only by way of eXa-mple and that variousmodifications may be made to suit requirements. For instance theimproved form of frog may be used in conjunction with stais made of woodor any other material and where appropriate the slot 2B would bereplaced by a, longitudinal groove, Moreover, rotation may be preventedby making the end portion I9 of the staff of non-circular cross -sectionand forming the socket I8 to suit; the cylindrical form is at presentpreferred, however, as it enables an accurate t to be producedrelatively easily. It is not essential that the wall of the socket I8should extend completely around the portion I9 of the staff as thelatter can be retained by making the socket of undercut channel shape,for instance as shown in Figure 4. In this suggested modication the endportion I9a of the staff IEB is of square cross section and the socketcomprises side walls ISa having top flanges |8b for po-sitivelyretaining the staff I0, but allowing it to slide longitudinally.Moreover the body I3 of the frog shown in Figures 2 and 3 may be boredfrom end to end to form the socket IB and the counter bore 32, the base21 carrying the screw thread 23 being made separately and secured inposition; if desired it may be made of hard-wearing material such asbrass to give long life to the thread.

What I claim is:

1. A musical instrument bow comprising a staiT having a tip and a frogat opposite ends for the attachment of the usual hair, said frogincluding a body having a socket formed therein and slidable upon theend of the staff, the walls of the socket extending more than half wayaround the outside of the stai to secure the frog to the staff, meansfor preventing rotation of the frog around the staff, and adjustingmeans for regulating the longitudinal position of the frog upon thestaff.

2. A musical instrument bow comprising a staff having a tip and a frogat opposite ends for the attachment of the usual hair, said frogincluding a body having a socket formed therein and slidable upon theend of the staff, the walls of the socket extending more than half wayaround the outside of the staff to secure the frog to the staff, meansfor preventing rotation of the frog around the stai, and an adjustingscrew threaded into the body with its tip projecting axially into thesocket and engaging with the end of the stai.

3. A musical instrument bow according to claim 2, wherein the stai istubular, a, plate being secured across the end of said staff and actingas an abutment for the screw,

4. A musical instrument bow comprising a staff having a tip and a frogat opposite ends for the attachment oi the usual hair, said frogincluding a body having a socket formed therein and slidable upon theend of the staff, the walls of the socket extending completely aroundthe outside of the stair to secure the frog to the stai, means forpreventing rotation of the frog around the staff, and adjusting meansior regulating the longitudinal position of the frog upon the staff.

5. A musical instrument bow comprising a stai having a tip and a frog atopposite ends for the attachment of the usual hair, said irog includinga body having a socket formed therein and slidable upon the end of thestaff, the walls of the socket extending more than half way around theoutside of the stai to secure the frog to the stair, a slot in the sideof the staff, a key member y mounted on the body and projecting into thesocket to engage within the slot to prevent relative rotation betweenthe stai and the body, and adjusting means for regulating thelongitudinal position of the frog upon the staff.

6. A musical instrument bow comprising a staff having a tip and a frogat opposite ends for the attachment of the usual hair, said frogincluding a body having a socket formed therein and slidable upon theend of the staff, the walls oi the socket extending more than half wayaround the outside of the stair to secure the frog to the staff, a slotin the side :of the stai, a key member mounted on the body andprojecting into the socket to engage within the slot to prevent relativerotation between the staff and the body, and adjusting means forregulating the longitudinal position of the frog upon the stan', theengagement of the key member with the slot preventing endwise detachmentof the body from the staff.

7. A musical instrument bow according to claim 6, wherein the key membercomprises a grub screw, threaded into the body and having its tipprojecting into the socket.

8. A musical instrument bow comprising a stai having a tip and a frog atopposite ends for the attachment of the usual hair, said frog includinga body having a cylindrical socket formed therein and which slidablyfits over that end of the staff remote from the tip, means forpreventing rotation of the frog around the stair, and adjusting meansfor regulating the longitudinal position of the frog upon the stai.

9. For a musical instrument bow, a frog comprising a U-shaped body withtwo limbs extending side by side from a base portiom a cylindricalsocket formed in one of said limbs and extending longitudinallythereinto from the extremity of said limb, and having an end wall, anadjusting screw extending into said one limb from the base end thereofand projecting axially through the said end Wall, and means on the otherlimb for holding the usual hair of the bow.

10. For a musical instrument bow, a frog according to claim 9, wherein acylindrical counterbore is formed in the base portion in alignment withthe axis of the cylindrical socket, and the adjusting screw has a,cylindrical head portion of substantial length arranged to extend intosaid counterbore throughout the full range of adjustment of the screw.

ALFRED NATHAN.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

